For example, if you have a digital camera, the camera “firmware” refers to all the software that runs on that digital camera. Firmware Can Be a Simple Device’s Entire Operating Systemįor some simple devices, the “firmware” can refer to the device’s entire operating system.
Even your USB mouse has firmware that handles interpreting the physical mouse input, communicating with your computer, and powering any lights that may be on your mouse. The video BIOS is a type of firmware that translates video-related instructions before they’re sent to your computer’s graphics processor. Your solid state drive has firmware that automatically manages where data should be stored on the physical flash memory cells for optimum performance. RELATED: What Is UEFI, and How Is It Different from BIOS?įor example, when you boot up your PC, the firmware on your motherboard-either UEFI or BIOS-starts and initializes your devices, before handing startup off to your hard drive, and then your operating system. In the case of a PC, your motherboard, CPU, graphics processor, hard drive, mouse, and other devices all have their own firmware. Firmware is actually just a type of software, but it is usually programmed into memory built in to that hardware and runs at a much lower level. “Firmware,” like its name suggests, is something in between software and hardware. So, if you have a Windows PC, the Windows operating system and all the applications you use are software, and the PC itself and its components like the hard disk, CPU, motherboard, mouse, and display are hardware. Hardware refers to the actual physical devices. Software refers to the programs, application, and other computer code that runs on a device.
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